Photo By Staff Sgt. Connie Jones | Spc. Cody Barber, of Forest, Miss., fires a Beretta M9 service pistol July 22, 2015,...... read more read more
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CAMP MCCAIN, Miss. – What does it take to be the best? Determination, training and competency are just a few of the components. To be the best Soldier requires more than just physical dexterity. It also involves a being a qualified shooter, a problem solver and knowing military courtesies and operations.
In order to be deemed the best, there must be a competition.
Sixteen Mississippi Army National Guard Soldiers in the 112th Military Police Battalion participated in the Military Police Warfighter Competition held July 21 and 22, 2015, at Camp McCain Training Center, Miss.
This contest is fairly new to the battalion, and to get to the Warfighter competition, you must be proficient at the company level, said Command Sgt. Maj. Darrell L. Masterson, the command sergeant major for the 112th Military Police Battalion.
“We started this event about three years ago,” said Masterson. “The battalion level competitors have to be recommended by the first sergeant at the company level.”
The selected Soldiers must be for events like the Army Physical Fitness Test, a six-mile march with a 35-pound rucksack, weapons disassembly and reassembly, medical aid, qualification with an M4 rifle, land navigation, combatives, an obstacle course and an oral board to test their military knowledge, said Masterson.
With temperatures reaching the upper 90s and heat indexes over 100, the ruck march was a rough stretch, said 1st Lt. Najee Bagley, a competitor who is originally from South Carolina.
“I’m from South Carolina and we don’t have the same type of humidity that’s here in Mississippi," said Bagley. "The worst part was the humidity and sun during the ruck march.”
The march, like the other events, involves the use of military skills and tactics that can be learned in Soldier manuals and various courses.
The skills tested in the competition can be taken back to the unit to help teach train other Soldiers, said Staff Sgt. Chris R. Griffin, from Flowood, Miss., and overall winner of this year’s competition.
Griffin has been participating in the competition for the last three years, winning second place in last year and says the spirit of the competition has kept him coming back.
“It takes that one percent to actually come out here and compete with other people in this 100-degree weather, “ said Griffin. “I just love doing it.”
The competition ended with three category winners, enlisted, officer and and noncommissioned officer, and one over-all winner. The winners will go on to represent the battalion in the 66th Troop Command Soldier of the Year Competition.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2015 21:23 |
| Story ID: | 171038 |
| Location: | CAMP MCCAIN, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 455 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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